Tag Archives: City Center

During Saturday’s Shane Mosely and Floyd Mayweather Jr.’s after-fight hosting appearance by Sean “Diddy” Combs at Eva Langoria’s Parker’s Eve nightclub in Las Vegas, the crowd was so huge at Crystals (CityCenter) that management was forced to cancel the red carpet event to ensure fan safety.

“There are 6,000 people outside Eve now,” Diddy tweeted.

Among the attendees: TI, Gabrielle Union, Swizz Beatz and Nelly.

Meanwhile, dining at Eva Langoria Parker’s Beso Restaurant (CityCenter), Paris and Nicky Hilton were spotted, who later partied at Tao (The Venetian), while down the Strip, Mya hosted the evening at Pure nightclub (Caesars Palace).

Despite high Las Vegas unemployment, foreclosures, and a stifling recessionary environment, that’s not stopping Las Vegas casinos from pulling out all the stops and opening new nightclubs this New Year’s Eve.

The 25,000-square-foot Haze nightclub, the newest offering from the Light Group, will be opening its doors tomorrow night at Aria in the new CityCenter. Also at CityCenter, Eva Langoria Parker’s Eve nightclub will be opening.

The new rock bar Smokin’ Hot Aces is also having its grand opening in The Venetian’s retail shops on New Year’s Eve, following a soft opening that started Monday.

The 14,000-square-foot Vanity nightclub – featuring a $1 million chandelier with 20,000 crystals and another 20,000 LED lights – will open on New Year’s Eve at the base of the Hard Rock’s new HRH tower (previous article by Las Vegas Backstage Access).

For fans of the Hard Rock’s Body English nightclub, the basement club will fade into oblivion on Jan.1, having its last hurrah on the same night Vanity opens.

One of the Vanity club partners is Las Vegas major leaguer Jason Giambi says celebrities will have to earn their keep. “Gone are the days where you would pay a celebrity $200,000 to just show up and you had a chance to make your make your money back,” says Giambi, adding, “I’m thankful that’s over.”

Time is getting close for the long-awaited opening of extravagant and opulent Las Vegas entertainment and retail businesses galore. Not just ordinary businesses, but the most haute and opulent on the planet!

If you ever wanted to know what it’s like to be up close and personal with $8.5 billion of opulent entertainment and retail establishments, then don’t miss out this December when CityCenter gradually opens up in Las Vegas.

With the economy tanking and only slowing recovering, most experts agree that further business casino and hotel developments down the Las Vegas Strip or adjoining properties will be on a hiatus for at least five years, more likely 10 years.

Las Vegas Backstage Access has written on the many unique CityCenter planned developments, but now has further updates to share. As casino area slots are being tested, finishing touches are being applied at the Aria casino-hotel tower.

Some restaurants are on the second floor at Aria, near Elvis Theater, or located in The Crystals, the nearby 500,000-square-foot retail, entertainment and dining district- a city within a city.

Oversize Elvis belt buckles cover the exterior of Cirque du Soleil’s Elvis Theater. Reportedly, a “big splash” for this is planned for Jan. 8, which would have been Elvis’ 74th birthday.

In terms of artwork, there is Maya Lin’s depiction of the Colorado River made out of recycled silver. Henry Moore’s woman and child reclining is also auspicious, purchased for about $5 million and now worth about $7.5 million– that’s just some of the $40 million spent on CityCenter’s artwork.

A prominent attraction at The Crystals, is Mastro’s Ocean Club, which is housed in a “tree house,” over the main floor, the 14-foot ice sculpture that magically re-form after a 90 percent meltdown and CityCenter’s version of Rome’s Spanish Steps.

There is something for everyone at CityCenter. It will surely be the Las Vegas center of attention for a very long time.

The check-in lobby for the Mandarin Oriental at CityCenter in Las Vegas will actually be on the building’s 23rd floor, causing guests to go down to their rooms at the boutique nongaming hotel that offers customers a panoramic view of the Strip and the rest of the $8.5 billion CityCenter through floor-to-ceiling windows inside the property’s Sky Lobby.

After years of planning, Hong Kong-based Mandarin Oriental is removing the wrapping from the company’s first luxury resort in Las Vegas. The company operates 41 hotels in 25 countries. In the United States, Mandarin Oriental has hotels in New York, Boston, Washington, D.C., Miami and San Francisco.

The 47-story Mandarin Oriental Las Vegas has 392 rooms and suites, ranging in size from 600 square feet to 3,000 square feet. The building also has 227 residences, which will be accessed by a separate entrance and elevator from the hotel side.

Hotel rooms will offer numerous technological enhancements including keyless door locks and automated control panels that allow guests to manage the lighting, room temperature and entertainment systems. Mandarin Oriental will have a 27,000-square-foot spa and fitness center and several restaurants and bars.

The Sky Lobby serves as a sort of buffer zone. The floors beneath the lobby are for hotel guests and the 24 floors above house the residential units. The 23rd floor is also home to The Mandarin Bar, the Tea Lounge, and the property’s signature restaurant, the first U.S. offering from celebrity chef Pierre Gagnaire.

One thing Mandarin Oriental lacks is a casino.

Gaming at CityCenter will be exclusive to Aria, the centerpiece 4,004-room hotel-casino operated by MGM Mirage. That shouldn’t concern Mandarin Oriental’s guests, said Jhingon, who spent five years as the general manager of the Mandarin Oriental in Singapore.

“We’re in walking distance to all the activities at CityCenter,” he said. “Our guests come here for our personalized service and experience.”

The Mandarin Oriental is scheduled to open Dec. 4.. The property will begin accepting hotel room reservations on Aug. 17. Room rates have yet to be established, but Jhingon said the luxury property will set prices at levels that will be considered reasonable in a market that has seen hotel room prices decline to their lowest levels in over two decades because of the sour economy.

“I believe it’s the perfect time for us to open,” Jhingon said. “We’re a boutique hotel by Las Vegas standards and we’re very visible. I believe we will be a choice for a lot of people from Day One.”

CityCenter, the multi-use development opening later this year on the Las Vegas Strip, announced a collection of unique luxury retailers and restaurateurs that will join the lineup at Crystals, a 500,000 square-foot retail and dining district.

Planned to open December 3, Crystals will showcase a large and varied array of the world’s most exclusive retailers including many flagship stores. For many of these brands, the Crystals’ location will represent their largest business in Las Vegas, the United States, or in some cases, the world.

Unique-to-the-market retailers opening their first locations in Las Vegas include Tom Ford, Assouline, Kiton, Miu Miu, Paul Smith and Porsche Design, along with the previously announced de Grisogono, H. Stern, Marni, Boutique Tourbillon and Mikimoto. Restaurants opening their first Las Vegas locations at Crystals include Eva Longoria Parker’s Beso and Mastro’s Ocean Club Seafood House. These upscale restaurants will join an exciting new Pub concept by Todd English and two previously announced new concepts by Wolfgang Puck.

The Taubman Company, the world’s leading developer of upscale shopping centers, is responsible for the leasing of Crystals.

“We’ve assembled an extraordinary collection of retailers and restaurateurs to make Crystals one of the world’s most unique shopping and entertainment districts when it opens this December,” said Frank Visconti, president of retail for CityCenter. “Crystals will delight guests with its unique architecture, awe-inspiring interior design, brilliant art and intriguing water features. These experiential offerings, coupled with exclusive items from the industry’s most celebrated brands, will make Crystals a premier social and cultural environment in the heart of CityCenter.”

An architectural achievement that integrates the talents of world-renowned artists, architects and designers, CityCenter plans to attract visitors from around the world, being a landmark for global taste and style. In addition to Crystals, CityCenter will feature ARIA Resort & Casino, a 4,004-room gaming resort; three luxurious non-gaming hotels including Las Vegas’ first Mandarin Oriental, Vdara Hotel and The Harmon (slated to open in late 2010); Veer Towers, the development’s only strictly residential buildings; and a Fine Art Collection.

Mandarin Oriental, Vdara and Veer Towers will include approximately 2,400 residences.

Eva Langoria Parker of “Desperate Housewifes” fame and star chef Todd English are teaming up on a Latin-themed steakhouse planned for the new CityCenter in Las Vegas.

The restaurant will be a spinoff from Beso in Hollywood and is planned to open later this year when the CityCenter opens. Jonas Lawrence, formerly of Rokbar in Miami, is the managing partner for the celebrity venture.

English, whose Boston-based Olives restaurant chain includes an eatery at the Bellagio in Las Vegas, will feature his Latin take on flatbreads, along with yummy tacos and chili-rubbed steak. He also is planning a British pub at CityCenter.

Langoria Parker will contribute her guacamole recipe and tortilla soup to the menu.

Though not officially confirmed, there is talk that Victoria Beckham, wife of British soccer star David Beckham, will also be a partner in the venture.

The very survival hangs in the balance for Las Vegas’ largest employer and the city’s largest construction project- and arguably one of the world’s largest and most expensive buildings. MGM Mirage, operating nine Las Vegas Strip resorts and employing more than 61,000 workers, is now embroiled in a contentious lawsuit over the $9.1 billion, 76-acre CityCenter development with its half-shared partner, Dubai World through its Infinity World financial subsidiary.

Analysts said the lawsuit filed Sunday casts a damaging dark cloud over the project and sends more negative signals on the overall financial health of MGM Mirage. According to the lawsuit, Dubai World, a 50-50 joint venture partner in the CityCenter project, is seeking unspecified damages and wants to be relieved of its obligation under the companies’ agreement, which was struck in August 2007.

Dubai World, a world-leading business conglomerate suffering from a two-thirds drop in their oil prices – leading some to question if the lawsuit is merely trying to sever their joint venture agreement or simply gain more project control – said MGM Mirage, which is CityCenter’s managing partner, is responsible for mismanagement and cost overruns with the project. Dubai World further contends that statements by the MGM Mirage in the company’s financial filings last week with the Securities and Exchange Commission constitute a breach of the joint-venture pact and has put the project at risk.

The lawsuit took the MGM Mirage reportedly by surprise, but theirspokespeople responded vehemently yesterday that they are doing everything they can do and are ready, willing, and more than able to meet all financial obligations and debt holder payments.

Despite the lawsuit, CityCenter still plans to open in stages, starting in October with Vdara, a nongaming condominium and hotel tower, and Aria, CityCenter’s centerpiece 4,004-room hotel-casino, scheduled to open on December 16.

MGM Mirage continues to accept job applications, having over 90,000 job applications for the CityCenter project and planning to hire 10,000 employees to boost the staganant Las Vegas economy.

However, MGM Mirage and Dubai World are still seeking the remaining $1.2 billion in financing to finish the project.

MGM Mirage received from its lenders last week a two-month waiver to avoid violating its loan covenants. Some financial analysts believe that MGM Mirage might have to file a Chapter 11 bankruptcy to restructure their $13.5 billion in debt.

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